~ Diary of a First-Time Novelist

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Reviews

Reviews from Goodreads:

Charles Lambert rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. It was effortlessly witty, beautifully written (and skilfully plotted – picaresque isn’t as easy as it might look), often moving, pitch-perfect in tone and a genuine appropriation of a world and style rather than, what might have been expected, a parody of it. If Kita didn’t live in the wild west – and, judging from her biography, she didn’t – some earlier incarnation certainly did. All in all, a great read and the kind of book that could easily attract a cult following, and may already have done so, although what it deserves is massive mainstream success. Do yourself a favour and buy a copy!

Sayalta rated it 5 of 5 stars

Refreshing, not a copycat theme, three night read

Caroline Ball rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I didn’t love it and I doubt I’ll read it again, but it was a very enjoyable, entertaining read. It’s very quirky and odd, a sort of ‘tall-tale’ kind of book. There are lots of coincidences and encounters with famous people from history, and in any other kind of story you might find it all too far-fetched, but with this kind of story it fits. It’s about a man named Wilbur McCrum and how he more or less stumbles through life, becomes an outlaw almost by accident, inspires his own religion, joins the cirus, falls in love and spends a large part of his life searching for his sweetheart (and there’s more about her, but that would spoil the surprise). I was sad to finish this book, sad to leave Wilbur’s story behind – but it was such a fun book to read that I couldn’t put it down.